Pages

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Typing Accents the easy way... Really!

I love twitter. I always learn so much. Today I learned something from @LouisSulek via @sylviaduckworth.Louis Sulek was kind enough to post instructions on how to easily type accents. This is something I thought I had a handle on but I just discovered that I have been doing things the hard way when it comes to typing accents in my french documents. I usually use alt keys or the French keyboard setting on my computer but I just learned that you can type both English and French texts using the same keyboard. It is called the United States- International keyboard.

Sounds good? Well here is what I leaned. Here are instructions for doing it in Windows 7:

So first you need to add the United States- International Keyboard to your computer.

To type: é = ‘ (close to the enter key) then eTo type è= ` key (left of 1) then eFollow the same directions but substitute correct letter to get à

To type ê use shift-6 followed by e

To type ç use ‘ (close to the enter key) then c To type ö shift-’ followed by o

To do capital letters follow instructions above but press shift key between the symbol and the letter.

I am so excited about this I had to share. I am looking forward to trying this keyboard with my grade 1's. So much less complicated. When I did typing activities with my students I often purposefully chose activities without accents or got then to write the accents in after. No more of that! :)

So today I learned how to use the United States International Keyboard. Do you have any great time saving tips for typing in French? Any great resources you use?